The Systems Challenge

While he had concerns about leaving the others to fight off whatever had been following them, Jonas couldn't deny the possibility that there could be a potential threat that might approach from the stairs.

So, while Elmo, Elin, and Kim were preoccupied with preparing for that threat, Jonas made his way up the stairs. Even with his eyesight shot because of that blinding light, he was able to at least use his ears to guide him. Not that he really understood how he was able to do this with his hearing.

He'd heard about people who were blind had learned how to use echolocation to 'see' the world around them, but he had thought that it would have taken a lot of work to accomplish, and that was with not being able to do anything about their ability to see with their eyes. Which he'd have assumed would make it easier to learn, such as surrounding oneself with people who only spoke in a language you didn't know helped you learn that language. A method called 'immersion.'

Yet, somehow he'd picked up the ability without even trying. While it was useful, it left a bad taste in his mouth. Almost like he was belittling the effort some people had to put in to learn that same skill.

Maybe it was because of the system he'd been given, but at the same time, he didn't like it when things were handed to him. Much like building muscles and getting stronger were as a result of working out through exercising those muscles, Jonas didn't like when he didn't have to work for something. It always made him feel like he was cheating somehow.

However, he felt about it, he pushed those thoughts to the side. They weren't helpful in his current situation and were only a distraction. If there was a threat that was about to descend the stairs, he couldn't afford to be distracted by anything right then.

Though, while he didn't like having been able to attain the skill without working for it, he wasn't going to refuse to use it. It would be like having knowledge of how to save someone important to him and refuse to use it just because of how that knowledge was obtained. It would be the same as shooting himself in the foot before stating to go for a walk in Jonas' mind.

It didn't take him long before he came into sight of the top of the stairs, but he had a hard time using the echolocation ability for some reason. It almost felt like there was a kind of buzzing sound that felt out of place. The buzzing also made it feel like there was a large part of the room ahead of him that he couldn't 'see' from the buzzing sound overriding any other sounds that might be coming from there.

The only thing that he found that was good about what he could 'see' with his ears was the fact that there didn't seem to be anything around the top of the stairs where they connected with the room.